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Do we need to start taking mass, nonviolent direct action for peace?
Street protest is no longer spontaneous, relevant, or reported in the news.
Permits for demonstrations are now staples of bureaucracy. Free speech zones with collapsible barricades are standard equipment. The recent inauguration even saw a separate bleacher section (of course, in a poor location) for protesters.
This is not how struggles are won. This is not what was done in the past.
Thousands of protesters demonstrated at the recent inauguration. What if hundreds or thousands of them had committed to a united direct action against the parade?
What if hundreds or thousands of people had blocked the limousines by standing (ala Tianamen Square) or lying down in front of them along the parade route? How many hours would it have taken the police to arrest and haul us all away? Would the police have had to airlift the president and company by helicopter out of the street?
What a spectacle that would have been. What a powerful statement. That is just one possibility. No doubt, there are many others.
People are killing and being killed every day in this war. Is it time to start laying our bodies on the line to stop it? Business as usual will not get the job done.
Organizing such an effort would require leadership. People and groups with skills and resources in law and finance, to assess and control the costs to each person who joins in the action. People with great judgment, humility, and compassion to pick the right times and places to act, and inspire us with the trust and confidence to come along.
Are we there yet? Will we ever get there without it? Has it ever worked any other way?
Do we need to start taking mass, nonviolent direct action for peace?
Bill Scheurer is the national coordinator of PeaceMajority.org. He ran for Congress as a peace candidate in 2004, and got 23% of the vote in the Democratic Party primary. ?
Street protest is no longer spontaneous, relevant, or reported in the news.
Permits for demonstrations are now staples of bureaucracy. Free speech zones with collapsible barricades are standard equipment. The recent inauguration even saw a separate bleacher section (of course, in a poor location) for protesters.
This is not how struggles are won. This is not what was done in the past.
Thousands of protesters demonstrated at the recent inauguration. What if hundreds or thousands of them had committed to a united direct action against the parade?
What if hundreds or thousands of people had blocked the limousines by standing (ala Tianamen Square) or lying down in front of them along the parade route? How many hours would it have taken the police to arrest and haul us all away? Would the police have had to airlift the president and company by helicopter out of the street?
What a spectacle that would have been. What a powerful statement. That is just one possibility. No doubt, there are many others.
People are killing and being killed every day in this war. Is it time to start laying our bodies on the line to stop it? Business as usual will not get the job done.
Organizing such an effort would require leadership. People and groups with skills and resources in law and finance, to assess and control the costs to each person who joins in the action. People with great judgment, humility, and compassion to pick the right times and places to act, and inspire us with the trust and confidence to come along.
Are we there yet? Will we ever get there without it? Has it ever worked any other way?
Do we need to start taking mass, nonviolent direct action for peace?
Bill Scheurer is the national coordinator of PeaceMajority.org. He ran for Congress as a peace candidate in 2004, and got 23% of the vote in the Democratic Party primary. ?